In the beginning was the Word…

In the beginning was the Word and Chagall created its Image. That is what one may draw from the title of the exhibition currently taking place at the Fondation Emile Hugues in Vence: MARC CHAGALL, DU VERBE À L’IMAGE. Co-celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Chagall Museum, the Fondation has chosen to present the works that led to the creation of the Message Biblique, a series Chagall began working on in the early 1950’s when he moved to Vence. The cycle includes 12 paintings illustrating Genesis and Exodus, the first two books of the Bible, and a series of five paintings of the Song of Songs. The prints and engravings shown at the Foundation are an immersion into the delicate and unique world of Marc Chagall. His take on religion is profound and the religious texts are also used to comment on worries of his time, the Exodus being the clearest example.